Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 14, 1996

Lute Olson still has trouble believing what he saw in the last 3.8 seconds Sunday at McKale Center in Tucson. . . .

After Cincinnati threw a sloppy inbounds pass from beneath its own basket, Arizona guard Miles Simon picked up the loose ball and made the basketball equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, a 65-foot bank shot that gave Olson the 500th victory of his distinguished college basketball coaching career. . . .

“I was just hoping the game would go into overtime,” Olson said Tuesday about the 79-76 victory over the then-fifth-ranked Bearcats. “It seemed like Simon’s shot was in the air for a half hour.” . . .

“After it went in, I tried to protect myself from my assistants,” Olson said. “Then I went over and congratulated Cincinnati for playing a great game. I’ve been on the other end of last-second shots, and I know how it feels.” . . .

What can Olson’s team do for an encore? . . .

It has a chance to tighten up the Pacific 10 Conference race and sweep the two-game season series from UCLA on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. . . .

This has become one of the premier rivalries in college basketball. . . .

In the last 10 years, Arizona has won seven conference titles and UCLA the other three. . . .

UCLA is leading Stanford by a game and Arizona by a game and a half. . . .

“It’s pretty evident, looking at the remainder of the schedule, that UCLA is home free if we don’t get them on Thursday,” Olson said. “If we don’t beat them, there’s no race.” . . .

The Bruins’ last six conference games are at home against Arizona State, Washington and Washington State and on the road against USC, Oregon State and Oregon. . . .

On Jan. 20 at Tucson, the Wildcats made 13 of 20 three-point shots and dealt the Bruins the first of their two Pac-10 losses, 88-79. . . .

“We shot the lights out,” Olson said. “We’ll have to have another great shooting game to win because, especially with the loss of Joseph Blair, we’re at a size disadvantage.” . . .

But, then again, the Bruins don’t have any accurate 65-foot shooters.

*

During the four seasons before Olson’s hiring in 1983, Arizona was 38-71. Since then, the Wildcats are 308-98. . . .

Not one Wildcat scholarship player is from the state of Arizona. . . .

Olson’s latest recruiting class is rated the best in the nation. . . .

Tipoff for the USC-Arizona game at the Sports Arena on Saturday is 11:30 a.m. because of television--Prime Sports--scheduling reasons. . . .

The crowd of 5,512 that saw Stanford beat UCLA on Sunday was the largest for a regular-season women’s basketball game at Pauley Pavilion. . . .

Obviously, NBA Commissioner David Stern has no personal salary cap. . . .

I like the United States over Argentina in the opening game of the Olympic Games basketball competition at Atlanta on July 20. . . .

For every Nick Van Exel assist the rest of the season at the Forum, the Laker point guard will donate $25 and Reebok $100 to the Los Angeles chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. . . .

Most intriguing matchup of a proposed heavyweight tripleheader at Madison Square Garden on May 10 is Evander Holyfield vs. James Toney. . . .

New Arizona Cardinal offensive coordinator Jim Fassel can’t say he has a tough act to follow. . . .

Jockey Chris McCarron, who returns to work at Santa Anita today after a five-day suspension, trails Laffit Pincay by only $88,087 among the all-time money winners. Pincay’s mounts have earned $190,231,069. . . .

If it’s Valentine’s Day, it must be Johnny Longden’s birthday. Happy 89th to the Hall of Famer. . . .

Angela Williams, 16, a 10th grader from Chino High, will compete in the women’s open 500-yard dash at the L.A. Invitational Feb. 24 at the Sports Arena. . . .

UCLA will host the Pac-10 women’s swim meet Thursday through Saturday at the Belmont Plaza pool in Long Beach, where top-ranked Stanford and second-ranked USC are expected to duel for the team title. . . .

Look for the Florida Marlins to be one of the most surprising teams in the National League this season--and the Colorado Rockies one of the most disappointing. . . .

The death of Charlie Conerly, 74, makes me feel old. Wasn’t it just the other decade that Conerly was the quarterback in the same New York Giant backfield with Frank Gifford?